As Fate Would Have It
by Queen Eggnog
Summary: Severus becomes a foster parent, Voldemort's back, & a strange girl joins Hogwarts (who shakes things up like a martini). Unique twists & funny adventures in Hogwarts are just the beginning. No slash, RR, PG13 for mild language, violence, & spiked eggnog!
1. Escape to Midnight Flowers Street

Disclaimer: _All right, If I must! I don't own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with it, because if I did...I would not be publishing another story, made up on it, on this website. I would just go ahead and make another few billions by publishing it as a book! I wish I could own Severus Snape, though, but I don't and probably never will. I only own the characters you can't recognize; no matter how hard you search your precious Harry potter books! They are mine. I spent hours creating them and everything in their background. They are genuine, original, unique characters that I feel will make a good story. If you feel otherwise, please tell me. I want to know! Enjoy! _

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**Chapter One: Escape To Midnight Flowers Street **

As she munched on her piece of Starfruit, she stared vacantly out the window at the rain that fell outside. It was days like these that just made daydreaming seem more useless. While gazing out the window, she knew the storm would last for hours. It always does. She remembered how this house had been her home for all her life. Swiftly turning away from the window, as if snapping from a trance, she searched for where her parents had wandered off. Catching a glance at the pictures and family portraits, that hung on the wall beside her, she smiled at the happy times her family had shared.

"_Where could they be?_" she thought to herself, twiddling with the key on her necklace and waving her wand in the air. She decided to eavesdrop on them, if they were nearby in the kitchen.

Cutting out the rain and concentrating on her parent's voices that came from the kitchen, she could hear her mother's words. They sounded worried and were fuzzy until they became clearer to understand.

"...mort is coming tonight; I just know it, Vincent! He has been on our trails for weeks and—" Her mother's voice was cut off by her father's interruption.

"I know, Celine, I know." He said slowly.

There was a heavy sigh before he continued, "We have to send her to a public witchcraft and wizarding school. That's the only way she will receive a full education while we hide out for awhile. Unless Voldemort thinks we're dead, we have no choice but to leave tonight. We can't stay here if it's not safe. I know how much we all love this place, but we have to sacrifice it if our lives are at stake." The brief sound of a choked sob, coming from her mother, came before she said, "Should I tell her now? What should I say? Maybe I should just tell her to pack a back with her wand...her vault key...a-and a change of clothes--"

"That would be fine, sweetheart," Vincent said quietly, "just tell her what she needs to know; which is that she has to leave with us tonight." Her father said, breaking the awkward silence. This deafening silence left the girl in shock.

"_So,_" she thought sadly, "_this is why they had been so protective of me lately. And it explains why they have been so quiet, as well_." The girl noticed there were no more voices coming from the kitchen.

There were sounds of chairs scraping the floor, which meant they were coming to the living room. She quickly snapped back to pretending that the rain is very interesting, hoping that they wouldn't suspect she was eavesdropping. It was exactly 10:04 p.m. on a dark and stormy Saturday night in Liverpool, England when her mother walked in to tell her about what she had already heard. A silent tear escaped her eyes as she thought of how they must leave their home. She wiped the tear away quickly as her mother's footsteps came up behind her.

"Darling," her mother began, trying to make her voice sound normal over her choked sobs, "could you please pack an overnight bag with your wand and vault key? We have to leave... tonight."

"Of course, mum, but why?" the girl replied calmly.

"I can't tell you because it's a secret." Her mother replied with an expressionless face. Usually, when her mother says this in question to "Why?" or "Where are we going?" she says it with a smile and puts a finger to her lips, as if they were going on a surprise trip to Disney Land or something.

"Right, mum. I'll go pack a bag now." The girl jumped up from the chair and ran upstairs to her bedroom, pretending to be happy and that nothing was really wrong.

Celine remained standing where her daughter had left, softly fell to the floor, and began crying softly. Vincent walked over to his wife and hugged her sympathetically. "It's going to be okay, love, we will be okay..." He held Celine tightly in his arms as she cried into his chest, sobbing incoherent words about Voldemort and the safety of their only daughter.

Once the girl had reached her bedroom door upstairs, she quickly opened it and walked over to her bed. Looking around frantically for her favorite backpack, she thought of how they could escape Voldemort. They could go to the Ministry of Magic first, tell The Minister about Voldemort, ask for protection, and hide out until he miraculously dies of starvation. "Yeah, like that's going to happen anytime soon." she said sarcastically, disbelieving that somebody as powerful as Voldemort would stand outside of the Ministry of Magic asking if the Merlin's could come out and play.

She spotted her backpack trapped under a pile of clothes on the floor, seized it, and started to stuff some clothes into it. She also grabbed a few of her other things that she couldn't part with. Things like her family photo album, her journal, and most importantly...her medi-potion.

This wasn't one of those typical medi-potions that are prescribed to you at the drugstore. No, this was a special potion. A potion specifically created by her mother. This potion is used to hide the visible signs that classify a vampire. It is not a permanent cure for vampirism. That is why the victim must repeatedly take the antidote for the rest of their lives. Of course, taking something to help fight the disease is better than suffering endlessly. It just eliminates the bloodthirsty hunger, sensitivity to sunlight, and decreases the size of the vampire fangs.

She wasn't always a vampire. Half-vampires aren't just born, they are created. A true vampire must bite a mortal human to create a half-vampire. Half-vampires become immortal, just like the undead, and have the need to kill for blood. Celine had been researching vampires for quite some time and produced an antidote that would counteract the dangerous vampire symptoms. It was the single most brilliant potion that would ever be created. Celine had never planned to make it public-known until she perfected it, that way it could help vampire victims worldwide, for both muggle and wizarding people. She has extreme chemistry-associated knowledge and does quite well in the field of Potionsmaking.

The girl sighed heavily as she packed the last thing, her wand. Black Oak, 13 inches, and Dragon's Blood. She recalled the first day she had her wand. It was a magical day. Mr. Allivander had been so nice to her and helped her in choosing the perfect wand. "_He really is a nice guy_." She looked despairingly at her room for the last time. All of a sudden, there was a loud crashing noise downstairs. Then, she heard her mother scream. The girl grabbed her bag, hurried and confused, and frantically dashed out of her room and downstairs.

Once she reached the living room she saw her father scribbling a note on a scrap of parchment and her mother running towards her.

"Change of plans, darling, you have to leave without us...Now!" Celine whispered in a frantic voice.

"W-What?" the girl replied, afraid to go out alone.

"Angel," her father said as quietly as possible, "Voldemort is here. There's no other way to say it, but he is going to try to kill us. If you leave now, you have a better chance of surviving than we all do for leaving together." he paused, to tie a note to an owl and sent it off into one of the front windows, before continuing, "So, give us a hug and go out the front door. I'm going to send an owl to the headmaster of a public witchcraft and wizarding school that you must attend until we're safe."

The girl put on a stunned face and dropped her lower jaw. "Where do I go?" she said in a shaky voice that she wasn't faking. She really had no idea where to go if she was to be separated from her parents.

The loud booming noises that were coming from the back of the house, which were dangerously getting louder, abruptly stopped with a loud crash and the sound of a heavy metal door falling on the kitchen floor. That door had been custom installed with titanium steel and was fixed with charms and spells to keep it locked. Voldemort would probably take 5 seconds to break down a regular household door. However, it took him 5 minutes to take down this particular door.

Celine snapped her head around to the kitchen, then turned sharply around to her daughter and hissed urgently, "Go! Get out of here, love, while you can!" She hugged her daughter tightly and sent her over to her father for a hug. She gave her father a quick, but loving, hug.

She whispered hastily to both her parents "I love you both and I hope to see you again." With that, she dashed out into the stormy twilight with tears streaming down her face.

The girl ran at the speed of light to get far away from Voldemort's wrath. She also tried to be silent as the grave, because she didn't want Voldemort to hear her and come after her. Fighting an irrepressible urge to go back to the house and help her parents escape, she reluctantly ran further and further away to what seemed like nowhere.

After running nonstop, and purposely getting lost on the way, she stopped running and gasped for breath by a stop sign. "I hope I lost him," she said breathlessly. "Where am I?" Observing her surroundings, she recognized a street sign: Midnight Flowers Street.

"_Now what do I do?_" the girl looked uneasily around the neighborhood and took out her wand to lighten things up with the Lumos spell. She rummaged through her knapsack, took out her wand and murmured "Lumos" under her breath. A soft light glowed from her wand and illuminated the street in front of her. She saw nothing out of the ordinary of a typical Liverpool district.

A flutter of wings startled the girl and a small tawny owl flew directly towards her, causing her to fall backwards in surprise. "Crazy bird..." she muttered as the owl swooped off to a nearby tree. She stood up and brushed herself off.

Moments after she stood up, a pair of gleaming headlights appeared in the street, hurtling towards her at a remarkable speed. She gasped and scrambled for the safety of the sidewalk. She caught sight of her backpack, still lying in the path of the enormous vehicle, and scrambled back to retrieve it. She was just swift enough to get out of the way of what looked like a purple double-decker bus. As she examined closer at the vehicle, now stopped in the middle of the road beside her, she realized it had three decks.

The girl sat awkwardly on the sidewalk, her confusion increasing as she stared at the bus, wondering if she was in a dream or not.

A young man jumped out of the door of the first deck and stated in a business-like tone "Welcome to the Knight Bus: Emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Derek Fraise and I will be you conductor this eve—" Derek looked down at the girl and asked her curiously," Are you all right, miss?"

The girl immediately stood up, embarrassed, and smiled uneasily. "Yes, I'm just trying to get out of here. Ummmmmm..." **_THINK!_** She yelled at herself. "I'm in a bit of a hurry to get somewhere very important at the moment.." she said hopefully.

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_Well, what did you think? I know I have made a few mistakes here and there, but I have changed all the little details around...and I have done it all for YOU!! Ok, now I'm going to try my best to be a diligent authoress and get my butt in gear to publish the next chapters for my undying fans out there! Well, got to start somewhere, I guess. I must be off to brainstorm and somehow get my thoughts out of my head and onto the internet, via paper and perseverance!!!! Cheerio, Chaps! _  



	2. Strangers When We Meet

Disclaimer: _As I said before (and will continue to say throughout my chapters just to save space) I don't own anything affiliated with Harry Potter, Severus Snape, and the keys to the black Jaguar in the parking lot (Sorry, dude, here's your keys. You got a sweet car there). However! I do own, and therefore claim, everything else. Deal with it, please. Or I will be forced to not care, cackle like an old witch, and make fun of marshmallow gods. _

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Derek nodded, "Do you have any extra luggage, animals, or mysterious packages that you would like to stow in the luggage compartment?"

The girl was half-listening to him and mostly scanning the streets for any sign of Voldemort strolling along with wand raised to kill. "No, no, no." she said quickly, "I'm in a bit of a hurry to get somewhere very important at the moment." She thought about her statement and added, "I'm going to visit my uncle."

"Of course, miss." Derek answered calmly, "If you would follow me, I can show you a seat."

"All right." She said briskly, unaware of anything he was saying, and followed him onto the bus.

As the girl walked up on the bus steps, she looked up at the driver's seat. The man seated there was of an indeterminable age, chubby, quite short, a bit on the balding side, and had an overall rat-like appearance to him. She turned away quickly when the man looked back at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that the bus driver was looking at her as she walked down the aisle. She could feel his silent stare and wish he would just drive the freaking bus.

Once fully inside, she was surprised by the luxurious décor inside. Chintz chairs lined the aisles, lavish carpet covered the floor, and elegant mini-chandeliers were hung gracefully above it all. "_Wow, this must be upper-class transportation_." She thought in awe, "_I hope I can afford it_." She held her backpack close to her, like it was all she had left in the world, as she sat down on a nearby chair covered by a deep plum chenille throw.

Derek nodded to the bus driver and the bus moved forward silently along the street and the chandeliers chinked together like crystals in a glass bowl. The girl stared out the window at the passing buildings, as the bus gained speed, and whispered to nobody in particular, "Goodbye, Liverpool."

**POOF!**

She stared curiously out the window as they were now speeding along a road of a small bohemian city. It was a bright sunny day, wherever it was. Various bright colored double-story houses with patchy green lawns and long driveways flashed by as the bus started to slow. Derek cleared his throat politely before he spoke to the girl, "Well, miss, our next scheduled stop in London won't be for a while. Would you like to rest on one of our cozy beds upstairs or would you prefer to wait on one of these equally comfy chairs?"

She turned away from the window, putting on one of her most convincing fake smiles, "I think I would like to rest upstairs, thank you," she replied.

Nodding his head, he continued, "We charge 10 sickles for the trip, wherever it is you wish to go, and 5 sickles for a bed. I think it is a reasonable price, don't you?" he asked.

"Indeed." She answered. "_At least I can afford it_," She pulled her backpack open, pulled out her wallet, gave him the proper amount of money, and started to stand up. He held his hand out to help her up and guide her upstairs. A spiral staircase was tucked in the middle of the bus on the right side, between the lavatories. He walked up first and she followed. Deep maroon carpeted stairs and gold tone handrails were a surprise to the girl. "_Whoa, I must be dreaming_."

They finally reached the second deck and she had to refrain from gasping. Eight small beds were comfortably tucked in rows of four on each side. Four small candelabras hung above the center aisle at the ends of the beds. "_I've definitely had too much wine tonight_."

Derek outstretched his arm towards the beds, whispering as quietly as possible, "Here is where I must leave. These are the beds and if you need anything please ask me; I will be right downstairs. I must take my post downstairs in welcoming the new travelers. Excuse me." he bowed politely and walked quickly down the stairs. "_Why in the world was he whispering_?" she thought, puzzled.

She scanned the room, noticing there were other people in here as well. Now she understood why he was whispering. Two middle-aged witches slept in the two beds nearest her on the right side, an elderly wizard was snoring in his sleep two beds away from her on the left side, and a young wizard sat comfortably in the last bed on the right side of the deck. He was reading a newspaper of some sort. "_Daily Prophet_." she assumed. He was the only person awake, besides her. She took a few steps forward, without thinking, and immediately stopped herself. "_Should I sit next to him so I have somebody to talk to or should I just_..." she wrestled with her thoughts for a few seconds before she finally decided to sit next to the guy. She took slow steps before she stopped next to the bed he was sitting on. The man glanced up from his newspaper and smiled warmly.

"Hello." He said, folding his newspaper and setting it down next to him.

"Hi." She answered timidly. "Would you mind if I rested here?" she asked, pointing at the bed next to him.

The man shook his head and replied cheerfully, "Not at all, my dear, only if you don't mind talking with me because there is absolutely nobody awake in this place, save you and me." He laughed and then chuckled softly after a grunt was heard from the old wizard's side of the room. She smiled genuinely; her hollow sadness was starting to melt away as she felt she could at least be a little happy to talk to somebody.

"_I wonder if I can tell him what happened without having to deal with a lot of panic_," She set her backpack down and plopped down on the bed. She turned to face the man who had returned to reading his newspaper. He was definitely reading the Daily Prophet, as she had correctly assumed. She eyed at the man briefly before turning to observe her surroundings. Every bed was covered with a duvet in the same color maroon as the stairs, deep in color, a fat white pillow that lay atop the beds that were unoccupied, and shiny gold curtains were folded elegantly above every window behind each bed.

She shook her head in complete awe at the richness of the bus. She rubbed her eyes and tried to shake her brain to wake up from this incredible dream, but secretly she did not want this to end. As long as she was far away from Voldemort, she was happy. Then, the depressing thought of her parents, and whatever is happening to them, came back like a chronic disease. Her heart fell apart inside and she could feel the sorrow and loneliness coming back. She sat back against the wall at the head of the bed and sighed heavily, fighting oncoming tears. Through her silent suffering, she could vaguely hear the man shift in his bed and put his newspaper away. She felt grief unlikeany she had ever felt before, and she tried not to think selfishly. "_Just let my parents live, that's all I ask_." she thought desperately to herself.

The wizard stared at the young woman and decided to ask what the matter was, since she was looking increasingly gloomy since she arrived.

"Excuse me," he began quietly, with a bit of concern in his voice, "I don't want to sound prying, but you appear as if something is really bothering you. Are you all right?" he asked.

She lifted her head up in surprise and looked straight in the man's eyes, she had not expected anyone to notice.

"_Damn_," she thought, "_Now I suppose I have to tell this guy everything_".

"Um...Yes, I'm—fine." She managed to say without stuttering.

He watched intently, as if trying to read her emotions, and knew that nothing was "fine" when tears were on the verge.

"Are you sure?" he persisted gently.

She pondered for a moment, "_Might as well spill it_." She gave up fighting her emotions and let her tears fall freely, without sobbing, out of respect for the other passengers.

"No," she said in an unusually calm voice, "I'm not all right. I'm in a terribly dangerous situation and I need to find a man named Albus Dumbledore. Do you know who he is and where I might be able to find him?"

The wizard sat there for a moment, absorbing this information somehow and then answered "Yes, I know who Albus Dumbledore is and I happen to be on my way to a friend's house and we are going to visit him tomorrow." He paused before asking: "May I ask what your predicament is?"

She refrained from crying uncontrollably, but was not able to hide her efforts. In a low whisper she said, "Voldemort attacked our house. I don't think my parents are going to make it out alive. I'm trying to find Dumbledore to ask if he can help me, and I don't know where to go from..." she trailed off, breaking eye contact with the man, so she could wipe her nose on her shirt. "_How embarrassing_." she scolded herself as she wiped her nose.

Hepolitely offered her his handkerchief. She took it hesitantly and thanked him. "Thank you," she wiped her nose politely, afraid of soaking it, and handed it back. He held up his hand, "Why don't you have it?" he said thoughtfully, "for future tears." She smiled a little.

"Ah, forgive me," the wizard said quickly, "I haven't introduced myself. My name is Remus Lupin. However, I will soon be a teacher at Hogwarts. So, I guess you can call me Professor Lupin." He smiled, which always seemed to melt away her sorrow. "_This guy must be an optimist_."

"Pleased to meet you," she began to say, "My name is-"

She was interrupted by the loud **POOF!** and Derek's bussiness tone voice saying, "Mr. Lupin? Miss? We have arrived in London."

Lupin nodded his head, "Thank you, sir. I will be down shortly."

"As will I." The girl chimed in.

"Of course." Derek left down the stairs. Lupin turned back towards the girl and smiled. "Well, let's go, shall we?" he lent his arm cordially. "_Nothing gets this guy down, does it_?" she took his arm and he helped her up. They both stood in the narrow aisle. "After you," he insisted. "Thank you." She led the way down the aisle, and down the elegant spiral staircase to the first deck. "_Do I have my backpack_! " she looked at her arm and sure enough, her purple tiger backpack was there.

She smiled at Derek as a sort of a goodbye. He smiled back and said, "Goodnight to you both." as he led them both out the door. The bus driver looked once more at the girl, just to make sure she was who he thought she was, "_What will Voldemort think of this_?" he thought nervously as she glanced at him once, and walked off the bus hastily.

Once both people were standing on the sidewalk, the Knight Bus drove off and **POOF!**ed off to some other place in the world. The girl sighed. "_Now what_?" Prof. Lupin turned on his heel to face the house in front of them. She turned as well to see what he was looking at and gasped. Up ahead stood a ghostly-looking haunted house of some sort. Completely black, the house vaguely reminded her of the muggle TV sitcom, "The Addam's Family." She shivered when a gust of wind blew, drew her jacket around her tightly, and followed Prof. Lupin down a darkly impressive neighborhood.

"Well," Lupin cleared his throat, "Here we are."

Her eyes widened, "_HERE_! _We're going in that place_!" and then she said gratefully, "All right. Thank you for helping me. I don't know how to ever repay you." He smiled as they both walked up to the wrought iron gate that separated the house from the sidewalk. The fence wrapped around the entire house and enclosed an exquisitely landscaped lawn. Nothing more than a white rock driveway led up to the supposed manor. A flourishing rose garden lay cozily in front of the long patio that also sat in front of the ominous house.

Once at the gate, Lupin stopped unexpectedly, looked up and down the street quickly, and opened the gate with a strong push. He motioned for the girl to follow him as she stood there awkwardly staring up at the house.. "_Poor girl_," he thought sympathetically as she followed him closely, nearly holding his hand, "_she must be scared out of her mind. I just hope Severus will understand. He probably will,_" He thought as they took the few steps up the patio.

"_I hope there aren't any poltergeists, ghosts, or demons here_." She thought anxiously. Remembering what she had read about poltergeists she blinked furiously to clear her already troubled mind of it.

"Professor Lupin?" the girl looked at him.

"Yes?" he looked at his pocket watch then at the girl. They continued walking up to the house.

"May I ask what your friend's name is?"

"Of course," Lupin chuckled lightly, "His name is Severus Snape. But, since he is also a Professor at Hogwarts, you should call him Professor Snape."

Lupin quickened his pace, causing the girl to quicken hers as well. "_Slow down, dude_," she thought impatiently, "_Voldemort isn't behind us_." She shivered at the thought of him. She couldn't believe she brought the whole problem up again after she had just gotten over the sheer terror he had caused on her family. "_I can't wait any longer until he finally just keels over and dies_." She thought again, trembling inside with anger, "_I hope he dies soo_n."

She felt as light as a bubble, almost as if she weighed nothing at all and that she was completely empty inside. With her mother and father back at their house, she didn't want to think of what might be happening now, she felt absolutely alone in the world. It was tragic that she was the last Merlin in the world, assuming her parents might not make it out alive. However, she put the present danger aside and focused on wherever this Lupin guy was leading her to. She noticed the large patio that sat on the edge of the house and gulped. This house was becoming creepier by the moment.

Lining the patio deck were various gothic statues, medieval figurines, and ancient mismatched furniture from another time. All of the items were well preserved, considering their ancient appearance. Lupin stepped in front of the double doors, rang the doorbell twice, and knocked smartly three times. On the third knock, one of the doors were opened quickly and blinding rays of light shone through the opening, outlining the figure of a tall young woman clad in violet robes.

"Hello, Remus." She said in an inviting tone, "So nice to see you again."

"Sorry that I'm late, Helen," Lupin apologized, "I had the delight of meeting this charming young lady on my way here. She needs our help and must travel with us to visit Albus for important reasons." He paused to look up and down the street at the same time that the girl did, expecting Voldemort to walk up the driveway with wand poised to kill. and looked back at Lupin when he continued "Shall we talk more of this inside? Maybe over some nice tea and biscuits?"

"Come inside, please." Helen said pleasantly and stood aside so the two guests could enter the house.

The interior of the house was just like any other house she had seen. Nothing out of the ordinary and definitely not as spooky as she had imagined. Sometimes she let her imagination get the better of her. She walked on deep green carpeting as she passed the entryway and stood on the wooden floor of the hall. The wide hallway branched off into other rooms on each side.

Lighting up the room was a marvelous chandelier that threw rainbow sparks of light in every direction. The sudden change of light from the darkness of the outside caused her eyes to go white and the world started to spin. It really didn't help matters any when her eyes were already light sensitive even when she took her medi-potion. She staggered for a moment and caught hold of somebody's arm without knowing. When her eyes finally came into focus, she looked into two of the darkest black eyes she had ever seen. They belonged to Severus. She straightened up and let go of his arm, "I'm sorry about that." She said quickly, "I just got a little dizzy from the light change." He was only a few inches taller than she was. Considering she was only 5'10", which was tall for a girl. The girl looked at the mysteriously handsome man. She figured he was probably in his early thirties, a bit on the pale side, but quite muscular despite his gaunt appearance. He smiled a little, barely, and replied, "That's fine,". He looked away towards Helen and Lupin standing by the doorway and said to Lupin, "Shall we go to the living room and maybe you could tell me who this young lady is?".

Lupin smiled, "Of course, Severus. This is—" he stopped and blinked several times, "I didn't catch your name, dear. What was it?" he asked her.

The girl switched her balance to her left footand answered, "Oh, my name is Melissa. Melissa Merlin." She felt Severus look at her. "_Why am I so attracted to a complete bloody stranger_?" she thought.

"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Merlin." Severus reached his hand out to greet her and she took it. "Yes," Melissa said quietly, "pleased to meet you as well..." she trailed off and she tried to remember his name.

"This is Prof. Snape." Lupin introduced Severus to the girl, although she knew his name except she forgot it while thinking about something else, "He is another teacher at Hogwarts. He teaches Potions class. And this is Helen Rymir," Melissa took Helen's hand and said, "Pleased to meet you as well." Lupin continued his introductions, "She teaches Potions at the Wizarding University of London."

"Well," Lupin clapped his hands together, "Shall we further discuss Ms. Merlin's situation in the living room, Severus?" he asked.

"Fine with me." Severus sad passively. Melissa started to follow the two gentlemen into the living room, but looked down at her shoes. Muddy, untied, and covered in grass from her escape. She bit her lower lip and looked around for a place to set them. Helen noticed this and said politely, "You can place your shoes by the door, if you want". Melissa smiled sheepishly and set her shoes by the door. "Thank you." She whispered as she trotted off to the living room, her neon pink toe socks making it difficult not to slide on the hard wood floor. Severus sat on the right side of the fireplace, in a black chair, and Lupin sat in the chair opposite Severus on the left side of the fireplace. Which left the couch in the middle for Melissa. She was secretly glad they were talking instead of waiting patiently for her. She decided to quietly explain her delay, when they stopped talking immediately when she sat down, "I took off my shoes so I would not stain the carpet." Severus raised his eyebrows slightly; "_She's pretty damn polite_." He thought in amazement. "Thank you for your concern." Severus replied casually.

Melissa's spine tingled once more at the sound of his eloquent voice. "Your welcome." She answered gingerly.

Lupin bewitched the platter of teacups and biscuits to float and offered Melissa to take some. She wasn't feeling altogether hungry, "Oh, no thank you, I'm not feeling well right now." Lupin nodded and let the platter float back down to the table. Melissa twirled her multi-colored hair and stared at the fire directly in front of her. She loved her hair for its unique fire-like appearance. She had black roots that gradually blend to brown, red, orange, yellow, and then finish with white tips. Lupin took his teacup and Severus didn't take anything.

The fire crackled as a calm silence filled the room. "Would you like to explain your situation, Ms. Merlin?" Lupin asked gently.

Melissa tensed. She saw memories flash across her mind like a movie in rewind. Her parent's happy faces filled her head. Old parchments, that were confiscated in raids, flew by. A deep, unfamiliar voice said, "You are the last generation of Merlin." She saw her mother's teardrops, her father's troubled eyes, and she heard the sound of the back door falling to the floor with a sickening thud. Her head was spinning, the room started to blur, she held her head sideways in her hand, and tried to speak, "I don't think—" and then the world went black.She sunk into her chair, head in hand, and was silent.

An awkward silence filled the room. Lupin was about to take a sip of his tea as Severus in between standing up to tend to the fire and still seated. Droplets of water began to hit the window softly while the fire continued to crackle. After a few moments, thinking she was joking around, they found she wasn't. Severus finally walked over to the unconscious Melissa and checked the pulse on her wrist, which was very faint. He looked over at Lupin, nodding his head; "She's out." He said, confused.

"Poor child." Lupin said sadly. "She must be shocked out of her mind." He sighed.

Severus hated not knowing something, "Would you mind telling me what the bloody hell is going on?" he asked impatiently.

"Voldemort attacked her family not more than 45 minutes ago, she ran away, we talked briefly on the way here, she told me that her father told her to find a man named Albus Dumbledore and here we are." Lupin said in one breath. "I figured that Dumbledore should know so I invited her to stay with us, as we are going to see him tomorrow." He finished and then took a long sip of tea and ate a biscuit in a single bite, looking sadly out the window. Severus blinked and was silent for a few minutes.

"_Great_," he thought furiously, "_Voldemort is back. And just when I thought things were going smoothly, something like this has to happen..._" he sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

Lupin sensed his frustration and decided to say, "Severus, I think that you should go to sleep early. I don't think that a late night would do you well in a situation such as this."

Severus looked up at the fire, eyes brimming with rage, "Maybe I will." he said simply. Lupin was completely surprised; he anticipated to be yelled at or given the cold shoulder. "All right then." Lupin said happily, "I'm going to clean up all this." he waved his wand around the platter and walked into the hall and towards the kitchen, incessantly munching on biscuits and humming to the tune of "Fill Your Heart".

Thinking about the new danger of Voldemort on the streets, Severus stood next to Melissa's chair for a minute and gazed out the window, then finally decided to pick her up and bring her to one of the guestrooms. He leaned over, picked her up, and was shocked at how light she was to carry. He shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the living room and into the hall.

Helen came out of the kitchen with oven mitts on, smiling, "What happened to her, darling?" her expression changed to worry. "She just passed out from a long night of worrying." He said calmly. "Well, I'm going to finish up my potion and then I will be up to go to sleep in a bit, okay?" Helen smiled again and kissed his cheek. He turned and headed up a flight of stairs at the back of the hall. He could hear Lupin humming and shook his head, continuing up the stairs. "_She seems much older than she looks_," he thought as she looked at her solemn face. He finally stepped off the stairs and into the second floor.

Faced with two hallways, a door directly in to the left and in front, Severus took Melissa down the hall on the right. "_Merlin_," he mused silently. The name could mean that..."_she's a descendant of Merlin_." his eyes widened and he looked down at her, suddenly aware of something. He now understood why Voldemort attacked her family. Severus immediately looked up to see he was about to walk into the wall ahead. Turning swiftly down a hall to the right, he focused on getting to the guestroom without crashing into a wall and stopped in front of a door. He then wondered how he would open the door without dropping her in the process. Bending his knees to use the hand under Melissa's shoulders, he finally opened the door.

He sighed in relief and then grumbled when he realized he had to turn the light on. Instead, he opened the door to let the hallway light flood the room. In the back of the room lay a grand canopy queen bed, with deep evergreen linen and drapery, in front of a broad window overlooking the garden, a desk on one side of the room and a walk-in closet on the other. Severus walked over to the bed and set her down gently. He thought for a moment, then put her under the covers. A loud yawn startled Severus and he turned to the door to see a zombie-like figure walk down the hall. "_Bloody hell, Remus, do you have to yawn so loudly_?" Severus muttered to himself as he heard the door to the other guestroom shut. Then, he heard another yawn and realized it was himself. "Better go to sleep myself," he said to no one in particular. He looked at Melissa one last time, to see if she was still breathing, and shut the door on his way out. He walked back the way he came, towards the stairs and continued until he reached a set of doors on the right.

Blindly making his way into his room, for he knew where he was going even if it was pitch black, he turned left and collapsed on his king sized canopy bed. "What a night." he sighed, looking at the small electronic clock on his bed stand. 11:00 P.M. Severus did not feel remotely tired, but exhausted for some reason. He sat up and walked across the room to a door that led to the master bathroom. He turned on the light and opened the medicine cabinet to look for a sleeping potion he had made a few days ago. The small blue green vial was found and immediately downed in one gulp. Severus stalked off to his bed and once he hit the pillow he was out.

_

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_

_Ha! Yes, you are probably wondering, "Who is this "Helen" person? Well, I decided that Severus needs a woman in his life to keep him company, help him tend the garden, and keep him from having a mess house. It will help shape my story from being a random one and hopefully add some character. Thank you for your patience, I will definitely get more chapters up this summer, have faith._


	3. Intertwining Dreams

Disclaimer: _How many more times will I have to tell you..I don't own anything but Melissa and anything else you don't recognize (no matter how hard you look through your precious Harry Potter books!) Anyway, Melissa is sleeping and her scream wakes up everybody else at the same time....oh you will understand when you read. **READ! and REVIEW!  
**_

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_**Chapter Three: Intertwining Dreams**_  
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_Melissa turned violently in her sleep. A horrifying nightmare cursed through her mind. She could not wake from it. The rain poured relentlessly on the window behind her as she was deep in Sleep. This wasn't human sleep; this was the way Vampires Sleep. Normal Vampires Sleep every few weeks, when their bodies fall into a sleep so deep that dreams are alarmingly vivid and realistic. It's almost like reliving a part of life or living in the real world. Vampires cannot wake from the dream, or nightmare, but must Sleep for 6 hours...immovable and near comatose as the body rebuilds itself. In Melissa's case, since she is a Half-Vampire, her Sleep time is 3 hours and happens every month._

Melissa couldn't have been happier. She attended England's finest Witchcraft and Wizarding School, was not a Half-Vampire, had two of the greatest parents in the world, and was the girlfriend of the sexiest man alive. Severus was a 6th year, like her, and they have been together since their 3rd year. She had decided to visit Severus, who seemed lonely since his parents were out on a vacation for the summer.

She took her broomstick as transportation, since Severus lived in the same Wizarding neighborhood as she. Pushing the back gate open, Melissa took a soft step in the grass. She saw Severus standing by the garden, admiring the roses. She sneaked up behind him and hugged him warmly. "How are you?" she asked gently.

"Wonderful, now that you are here." He kissed her cheek and smiled at his dazzling girlfriend.

She blushed and looked at a nearby set of pink roses, "Thank you, but I think you missed." She grinned mischievously.

"I'm sorry." He smirked devilishly, "I will have to get it right this time, now won't I?" He moved closer and brushed lips with hers when the gate closed loudly. They both looked up in surprise and saw a dark cloaked figure standing by the gate. "Voldemort." Melissa breathed. Severus stood defensively in front of Melissa and pulled out his wand towards the approaching dark wizard.

"Put away your wand, you fool." Voldemort hissed, now standing a few feet away from the two.

"Why should I?" Severus spat, wand still raised, "So you can kill us?!"

"No." Voldemort grinned maliciously and took off his hood, causing Melissa to gasp with fear. "I want you to join me." He said simply.

"I will never join you!" Severus yelled.

"What a fool. Don't throw this opportunity away. It would be very unwise to say no to such a noble cause."

"There is nothing noble in killing people!"

"You're a heartless murderer." Melissa said coldly.

He was quiet for a few moments before he whipped out his wand and aimed it at Severus. Severus opened his mouth to shout a curse but Voldemort was too quick "Imperio!" he said simply and Severus was frozen in shock, powerless to Voldemort. Melissa screamed and Voldemort snapped his wand in her direction, muttered, "Silencio" and abruptly, her voice was gone. 

"Kill that girl." Voldemort controlled Severus' mind, which was fighting desperately. Severus turned his wand agonizingly towards Melissa. She understood what Voldemort was doing and tried to tell him to fight against the power, but couldn't speak. She grabbed his arm and tried to turn it towards Voldemort but he was too strong under the curse. Tears fell on her cheeks, she looked into Severus' frightened eyes and hoped with all her heart that he could fight the power. With tears in his eyes, Severus said "Avada Kedavra".

Melissa sat up and screamed like she had never screamed before.

* * *

_Lupin slept fairly well after and before the full moon. But tonight he felt uneasy and distressed with the news of Voldemort. His sleep was entirely human on every day except for the weeks before and after a full moon occurs. When he finally fell victim to sleep, his dreams weren't of sugarplums dancing in his head._

"Professor Remus Lupin." The plaque, engraved with professional gold letters, was in his hands. He beamed. Sitting at his lovely home just outside of London, Lupin looked out his window. All his hard work in school had paid off in ways he couldn't imagine. He remembered when he had received the exciting news from Dumbledore himself.

_"Remus," Dumbledore said proudly, "you did it."_

_Lupin stopped looking distantly at a nearby portrait and looked attentively to the Headmaster sitting at his desk. "Did what, sir?" he asked, confused at what he could have possibly done._

_"You have just received an approval for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position." Dumbledore beamed._

_Lupin stood dumbfounded where he was, before running up to Dumbledore's desk, and taking the letter that Dumbledore held up._

_He read it to himself and said, "Yes! This is....this is absolutely incredible! I can't believe it!" he ran around the desk and hugged Dumbledore._

_This was the greatest thing to happen to him in a long time. Lupin had just graduated from Hogwarts and applied for a Wizarding college in hopes of becoming a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Sometimes he thought what life would be like if only a werewolf had not bitten him. He would just have to live with that, though. Severus had also graduated with flying colors and placed an application for becoming Potions Master at a Wizarding college almost immediately. Sirius went off to become an internationally famous Quidditch player with James, Sirius a chaser and James a seeker. Everybody was off to such a good start.  
_  
Lupin sighed happily and decided to go for a brief walk around the backyard. Once outside, he inhaled deeply, enjoying the night air. Clouds hung overhead, choking any light from penetrating the darkness. He didn't notice the dark figure come up behind him. But, he did hear it. He reached for his wand and pointed it at the bushes in the corner of his back yard. "Who's there?" he asked angrily.

The figure stepped away from the bushes. Lupin almost dropped his wand. "Voldemort." He thought. The figure, supposedly Voldemort, threw back his hood and confirmed Lupin's fear. "What do you want?" Lupin spat.

"I ask for so little," Voldemort began silkily, "I only want you to join me."

"Then, I guess you can't always get what you want." Lupin replied.

"But I will. Here in my possession I have a cure for your werewolf problem." Voldemort held up a tiny vial of a translucent, shimmery fluid.  
Lupin remained undaunted by Voldemort's words because he knew there was no cure.

"What you don't know," Voldemort continued, "is that tonight is a full moon." As he was speaking, the clouds were moving apart, letting some serious moonlight through.

"It can't be a full moon tonight...I know it's not..." Lupin said aloud, shaking his head and started to retreat back to his house. Voldemort raised his wand and muttered a spell to lock the back door.

When moonlight started to trace its way slowly across the lawn, Lupin ran to the door. He frantically tried to open it. He used Alohomora, but nothing happened. He started to get extremely worried when he realized that it was a full moon, that the moonlight was only a few feet away and moving closer, and he glared at Voldemort, who was laughing. Lupin tried several times to break down the door. Finally, the moonlight reached him and he felt the torturous pain of werewolf transformation.

Lupin sat up immediately, in a cold sweat, and heard the shrillest scream he had ever heard in his life.

_

* * *

Severus finally slipped into a dream, something that rarely happened on any given night. Dreams usually occurred when he was extremely exhausted, stressed, or whenever he had too much scotch. The average amount of times that he had to drink a sleeping draught, to fall asleep, was at least once or twice a week. Even then, it seemed like every day._

He smiled warmly at the sleeping face of his lovely daughter. Melissa wasn't his biological daughter, he adopted her after Voldemort killed her parents when she was 16, but she and Severus had grown closer together ever since they met. Severus had enrolled her at Hogwarts, she was put in Ravenclaw, and she became a fast friend with Harry Potter and the gang. At some point during Melissa's 6th year, she started dating a Hufflepuff 6th year named Richard Brown. Severus felt the full responsibility of parenthood and embraced every moment of it.

Severus turned away and walked out of the room, feeling very fortunate. He didn't want this serenity to end. Walking down the stairs in a daze, he didn't catch the sound of a window latch being opened upstairs. Nor did he hear the sound of ominous footsteps treading across Melissa's bedroom. He walked into the kitchen, opened a cabinet above the sink, and took out a flask of black potion: Melissa's monthly anti-vampirism medi-potion.

Still walking in a fog of happiness, Severus just barely heard the sound of a creak in the floor up above. He snapped back to reality and assumed Melissa was walking downstairs to take her medi-potion. He walked back up the stairs, thinking about random things like going back to Hogwarts.

Once on the second floor, he felt a burning pain on his left arm which made him nearly drop the flask he was holding. "God no." He said, dropping the flask, and ran like mad to Melissa's door.

He kicked the door open and saw a familiar dark cloaked figure standing beside Melissa's bed.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?!" Severus shouted and rushed to see her eyes wide in shock and not moving. "What did you do?!"

Voldemort laughed wickedly, "I though you could use a lesson in life." He sneered, "Never disobey me, Severus, and maybe you will be spared the ones you love."

Tears fell on his cheeks, something that hasn't happened since he heard of his parent's tragic death. "Why?" Severus whispered, tracing his fingers through Melissa's flaming, gorgeous hair. He didn't expect an answer, but he got it anyway.

"Because she was distracting you from fulfilling your duties." Voldemort said simply. "I had to kill her."

Severus sat up in his bed, shaken from the realness of the dream, and jumped when he heard somebody scream louder than he had ever heard before._

* * *

_Seconds after she screamed, Melissa realized she wasn't at home, covered her mouth and mentally slapped herself. "_Gosh, you're such an idiot_!!" she thought angrily as she heard the sound of multiple running footsteps towards her room. However she got there, she didn't know, but she did realize she was in a bed and in a dark room somewhere. Then, it hit her: she was at Severus' house. "I must have passed out," she said quietly, unable to think of another reason for blacking out after Prof. Lupin had asked her if she would like to explain her problem. Suddenly, a series of frantic knocks nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Are you all right, Ms. Merlin?" She heard a voice asked from the other side of the door. She recognized it as Severus.

She rolled her eyes and was blushing a little bit as she walked nervously to the door, thinking of how to explain what happened. Finally, she reached the door, hesitated a few seconds, and then opened it slowly. She stood awkwardly in the doorway. "I just had an awful...nightmare. I'm terribly sorry that I disturbed you both." Melissa said, embarrassed by the last word she said.

Lupin sighed in relief, "I thought something happened. Well, strangely enough, I also had a bad dream."

Severus stopped looking concerned at Melissa to say, "So did I."

Melissa pretended to be extremely interested in her socks, "I really am sorry for startling you two, I don't normally have such vivid dreams."

"I'm sure you were overwhelmed by tonight's unfortunate events, is all." Severus said sympathetically.

"Well, let's all try to go back to sleep." Lupin suggested, yawning rather loudly and he walked sluggishly back to his room.

Severus remained at Melissa's door, "Are you sure you are all right?" he asked again, worried about her pale complexion.

She looked up, into his raven black eyes, and said softly, "No. But I will be fine after some sleep. "Goodnight, Professor Snape."

"Goodnight." Severus replied.

She smiled and shut the door politely. Severus turned and walked slowly back to his room. He made sure that he was in his room before muttering, "What a night." Looking at the clock, he realized how early it was. "It's only 4 AM." he sighed, fell onto the pillow, and slept almost immediately.

Melissa lay on her bed, staring out the window above the headboard of the bed. Rain drizzled on the glass. The sky was a dark shade of blue and purple. Spots of red highlighted the purple. There were no stars or clouds in the sky. "_I wonder what time it is._" She didn't care. She only cared about how incredibly attractive Prof. Snape was. Within seconds of relaxing, she was asleep. 

Lupin sat on his bed and searched for the biscuits that he brought upstairs for a snack. After one biscuit, he was snoring, deep in another blissful sleep.

* * *

_Well, an executive decision has been made about the style of my writing. I will probably have to lighten up on the wordiness. I'm going to publish another short chapter soon, start working on the next, and maybe add a few twists. I won't know what to do if I don't get reviews _**( HINT HINT )**_, so let me know how I'm doing. School is ever so demanding. Ta Ta, chaps._  



	4. Welcome to the Unknown

Disclaimer: _I own my cat, Angus, who hates me. I stalk Severus (wink). But I created Melissa. She is one of my alter egos. Please review. If you do not, you are killing me ever so painfully slowly. I write for you, isn't that generous? I have realtered my time, wrote all of this, and I have done it all for YOU! Isn't that generous?! (ahem) Here is another one of those twists. Enjoy. I know I will._

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**Chapter Four: Welcome To The Unknown**

"**NO!**" he bellowed again, his voice of rage bouncing off the walls and throughout the entire castle. What little patience he had left was faltering with this "old hag" and her sinister plans to overtake his realm.

The old hag, a gypsy witch from a nameless village on the outer borders of his magnificent kingdom, grumbled and crossed her arms stubbornly and cackled, "Then you shall suffer a horrible nightmare."

The young man rolled his eyes; he had it up to his spiky blond hair with her pack of lies, "You have rambled here long enough, old hag." She shook in fury as he continued in a menacing tone, "This will be the last time I say this to you: Leave my kingdom now and never...disgrace...my...presence...**AGAIN!**"

The gypsy witch remained standing with her arms crossed at the foot of the throne, furious, eyes twitching. "You will regret this." She said in a low voice.

"**LEAVE!**" he roared, his hand pointing angrily at the door. The old witch grumbled, turned on her heel, and stormed off in a huff.

The young man blew a strand of blond hair out of his flawless face and sighed heavily after she vanished in a cloud of foul green smoke. He glared at the floor. "I won't regret anything." He muttered, "You will." With that, he collapsed into his throne chair and ran his hands through his gorgeous hair in frustration. _How I hate public affairs._

After a few minutes of meditation, he numbly walked out to the balcony attached to the throne room. The tranquil scent of the wintry evening surrounded him, calming his frazzled mind. Seconds later, he fell softly to the ground and fell asleep. A wispy green smoke appeared slowly behind him.

The old witch had a deranged grin upon her face. She raised a crooked finger towards the young man, a heap on the balcony, and whispered a curse. All at once, he transformed into a small, revolting owl. He awoke instantly, horrified and dazed.

He glared, if that was discernable, at the hag and tried to transform into a human but could not. He flapped his wings helplessly, trying to do anything at all. This made the witch laugh all the more. She raised her finger once more and smiled her crazed grin, "I warned you, Jareth, that you will regret this." And with the flick of her wrist, he was gone, feathers and all.

Jareth, the owl, was whirling through the backroads of time and space. He knew this because every time he teleported, he had to travel through some sort of dimension. Even if it was just through his realm.

_**WHY** did I have to fall asleep out there_?! He fumed. _Where am I going_?! No voice came out. No magic, no human form, and no voice. He was powerless. And more importantly, he was stuck in a tunnel of time. Finally, a black hole sucked him into an abyss. He was thrown into a force of gravity so great he just closed his eyes and hoped for the best._ I must be going Aboveground_. he thought about that and became more worried by the second.

Colors whirled by quicker than the eye could see. Shapes of things began to appear before his eyes. He saw a dark room with rows of different sized cages and boxes. Everything happened so fast that he didn't even see bars from a cage materialize around him. _No_. He thought in disbelief. **_NO!_**

A tall, lively woman strolled around the dimly lit room, checking various cages. She stopped at Jareth and looked in curiously. "And where did you come from, little guy?" she asked softly, not sure if he was new or what.

She bent lower to look at him more closely as he moved forward to try to give her some sort of sign that he was not an owl, but to no avail. She smiled gently and opened his cage to pet him. He tried to fly out and escape, but she carefully caught him and said, "Now, now. It's ok, I have to get you fed and cared for. You look awful."

_You have a knack for stating the obvious_, Jareth growled.

"My name is Jenny,." The lady spoke quietly, probably trying not to wake the other animals in the cages. "and welcome to the Magical Menagerie."

* * *

All I can say is: _dun dun DUN! The plot thickens like overcooked gravy! (insert uncontrollable cackling) _


	5. Breakfast is Served

Disclaimer: _I created Melissa, Helen, and that new Knight Bus conductor (who will be in the story later, oops I shouldn't have said that). Anything else is either created by J.K. Rowling or the Bagel Gods of Eggnog Land. Tally-ho._

_This has been a very changed and revised chapter. I hope you enjoy it and that you may have some new ideas for the future that I can fit in. The plot is very open to suggestions and I think that it is kind of fun to have others participate in my story. Gives it a unique touch, really. Thank you._

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**Chapter Five:** **Breakfast is Served**

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, casting soft rays of light everywhere, birds chirped in the trees, and dawn arrived with a subtle crimson shadow. The silence was perfect until a loud crash was heard in Prof. Severus' house. "Bloody hell!" somebody yelled in frustration.

Melissa turned from her sleep and sat up in surprise. The first three thoughts that crossed her mind were "_What was that_? ", "_Where am I_? ", and "_Oh yeah_". She gazed at her surroundings and realized that she must have passed out or fallen asleep last night. She laid back down and snuggled under the warm covers. The bed she lay in was a canopy bed, layered in deep green curtains, linen, and had a ceiling.

Secretly, she wished that she could live in a place like this, because it was slightly better than her house, which was a little more than average size and quite refined on its own. The Merlin's were always travelling around, due to her parents being Aurors, and they felt it unnecessary to have an expensive house, since they barely spent any time at home anyway. Also, most of the neighborhoods they lived in were muggle so their house had to be as normal as possible.

She turned to rest on her side and closed her eyes. The pillowcase was made of satin and it was very soft. "_What am I going to do now_?" She could not think clearly with the anxious thought constantly poking at her mind. "_What is that lovely smell_?" She recognized a slight hint of lavender fragrance in the sheets, which was probably there because of its relaxing properties.

"_I think I will go find the bathroom_," she thought finally, "_before I fall asleep again_". She got out of bed and walked across the room, past a mahogany desk and wastebasket, and slowly opened the door, peering out into the hallway. A door in front of her and two hallways branched out to the right were her choices. "_Decisions, decisions_," she sighed, choosing the door in front of her, because it looked like a bathroom door for some strange reason.

Melissa walked towards the door and carefully turned the doorknob. She fumbled for the light switch on the wall and flicked it on. A single row of light bulbs above the sink and a hanging light in the middle of the room lit up. Sure enough, it was a bathroom. A pretty fancy bathroom, in her opinion, admiring its harmonious appearance.

A white porcelain free standing tub stood on the left wall, which was conveniently placed underneath a privacy window. Next to the tub was a small enclosed room, which, she assumed, contained a toilet. On the right wall was a gorgeous double sink cabinet, covered in black marble, above it an extensively large mirror. And the opposite wall was layered in shelves, which were filled with various things like towels and other stuff that you might find in a bathroom. Like, toilet paper.

The bathroom was very charming, with little knick knacks here and there, She felt comfortable here even though it was a rather large room. She walked over to the sink and stopped midway to admire the huge rug that covered the majority of the floor. It was an Oriental rug of some sort, but lovely all the same, she felt rather ashamed to walk across it. She did, however, and stopped in front of the sink counter, looking into the mirror.

Her hair was a bit ruffled, her face a bit paler than usual, but that was only because she didn't eat anything last night, and her eyes were brown. "Thank God." She sighed in relief. If she hadn't have taken her medi-potion, her eyes would be golden yellow. She diverted her attention to the different bottles and containers that were spread out on the countertop.

"_Madame Snaffle's Body Talc_", "_Mr. Portlio's Deodorant Spray_", and "_Miss Chop's Mouthwash_" were just a few of the toiletries lined up. She turned around and looked decisively at the tub, "I should take a shower," she said to herself, picking a leaf out of her hair. She closed the door and locked it, securing her privacy, and returned to the bathtub.

There were five different sized faucets and knobs. Upon closer inspection, she noticed special labels matching with each knob. From left to right they were marked: Strawberry bubbles, Vanilla bubbles, Cold-Warm-Hot variation for the water faucet, Raspberry bubbles, and non-scented bubbles.

"How interesting." She remarked. "Now I just need a towel." She looked around and spotted a stack of black towels on one of the shelves. Grabbing one, she started to turn the water on when she heard something that sounded like a knife cutting something on a cutting board. Shrugging, thinking that somebody was cooking something for breakfast, she continued getting ready to take a shower.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, three people collaborate to try to prepare breakfast for four. Lupin tends to the toast and drinks, Helen makes the eggs and bacon, and Severus is busy cutting up assorted fruits with disgust.

"You know, I really don't want to eat, or even cut these things," Severus mumbled.

Lupin sighed, "Can't you even try to act like you are interested in the food your girlfriend is making for you?" he said calmly, careful not to let Helen hear, who was listening to music on the other side of the kitchen.

"Lupin, put a sock in it, you are just trying to get more biscuits then you really need," Severus growled.

Lupin fell silent. He knew that Severus was upset and worried about Voldemort, but he tried not to let Severus' agitation get to him. Biscuits were, after all his favorite food.

After a minute or two of nothing but the cutting of fruit, buttering of toast, and sizzling of bacon and eggs, Lupin asked "So, do you think that Melissa is alright?"

Severus thought for a moment, still numbly cutting up the fruits, and replied, "I don't know. We don't need to pry into her life, it's already a mess. I would think that she is still a bit shaken up, but fine."

"Okay, well I will go wake her up, breakfast is almost ready." Lupin says after setting the table.

When Lupin left the kitchen, Helen walked over to Severus, put her arm on his shoulder and asked, "Darling, what happened to Melissa last night? She looked awfully pale."

Severus put all the diced fruit into a medium sized bowl, washed his hands, and told her what happened.

After a good long shower, Melissa stepped out of the tub. She dried off and put her clothes, and thought she smelled bacon. ""Breakfast is served." She thought pleasantly, because she was hungry.

After putting her clothes on the guest room bed she slept on, she walked into the hallways, found the stairs, and walked down them quickly.

Lupin was half way up the stairs when he heard that somebody was coming down them pretty quickly. Melissa looked down the stairs and stopped so suddenly not to run into Lupin that she tripped and fell into Lupin's arms. They both went stumbling down the stairs, causing such a loud ruckus that Helen almost dropped the plates.

At that exact moment, Severus walked into the hall to see what was holding them up, just to see that both of them were tangled in a heap at the foot of the stairs.

"What happened?" He asked impatiently.

They both stood up and Lupin explained, "I was going up the stairs when Melissa came down the stairs at the same time," Melissa interrupted, "I guess I was coming down the stairs too quickly because I ran into Professor Lupin and we fell."

"Whatever," Severus said in a disinterested tone.

He walked into the dinning room. Lupin and Melissa followed him in. Melissa felt so embarrassed, what a first impression. "First, I collapse in the middle of a serious conversation about Voldemort, and now I fall down the stairs, and bring a Professor down with me. God I am so dead."

"Ladies first," Lupin politely stood at the door, letting Melissa pass.

'Thank you." She half-smiled and took a seat across from Severus. Lupin sat next to her and was seated across from Helen. The menu was delicious. "_Eggs, Bacon, Toast, Fruit, the whole enchilada_." Melissa thought gratefully.Nothing was out of place, the room seemed perfectly arranged for every type of meal.

However, one thing seemed out of the ordinary: on the table, there were lighted candles on the table. Candles so bright, that they were the only source of light in the room. Of course, The large window on the outside wall was pouring sunshine in.

"Severus, do you really need these candles for every meal?" Helen asked while she was putting them out.

"Yes, they are good candles. Besides, there is no other sourceof light in...here" Severus answered, just as Lupin turned the dining room light on, he fumed in silence.

"Okay, let us now eat this delicious meal that Helen has prepared for us!" Lupin said cheerfully. Helen blushed, "I only cooked one part of the meal, I had help." Lupin reached instinctively for the biscuits, but Helen grabbed the basket and said in a mock stern voice, "There is only enough for 3 per person. No more then 3 Remus, Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just 3. Got it."

Melissa held in a giggle, and just smiled. "You can have my share of biscuits if you want." She offered.

Lupin laughed, "That's all right, you can have the biscuits." Everyone started to eat, except for Melissa. "Oh my God, what am I going to do about my potion?" her blood froze cold, what if her vampire signs started to show unwxpecedly? What if...

"You can eat now, if you want, Melissa." Helen said as she passed the large plate of eggs and bacon to her.

"Um, thanks, I'm just thinking to myself." She mumbled, taking the offered plate and put a few eggs and bacon on her plate.

Everyone was eating quietly. To Lupin, Severus, and Helen, this was a normal meal. But to Melissa, it was creepy. Everybody ate like robots, silently and synchronized, almost.

"So, Prof. Lupin, what do you do for a living?" Melissa asked between mouthfuls of bacon.

"Well, right now I am in training for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher job at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Severus is currently the Potions Master at Hogwarts." Lupin answered while chewing his second biscuit.

Melissa almost choked after hearing about Severus' job.

"Really?" Melissa asked, astonished.

"Yes, why? Are you interested in that sort of thing?" Lupin asked, bewildered.

"Well, actually, my parents and I always made potions for anything that we need. You know, the usual cold remedies and what-not." Melissa quickly said, trying not to sound over enthusiastic.

But before Severus could answer to that, something hit the dining room window.

Melissa stood up and opened the window to investigate. It was an owl, very old as it looked, that had just crashed into the window. Lupin, oblivious to the noise because of his food, asked, "What's everyone staring at?"

"A messenger owl just hit the window. Oh, poor thing." Melissa reached for the owl and it perched on her arm. It made an attempt to go for the food when Severus caught it.

"No you don't!" He said while untying the letter from its foot. He read the envelope, "It's addressed to Melissa" he said.

"It is?" Melissa looked curiously at the letter that Severus handed her, written in violet ink. Everyone at the table was staring at her, as if to cue her to open it and read it, except for Severus, who returned to eating a piece of watermelon with a cringe. She found it odd that anybody would know that she was here. The letter fell out of the envelope, she unfolded it and read it quickly.

Dear Melissa,

I know what happened to you and your family the night that Voldemort attacked, and I am truly sorry. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I will be happy to help you in any way that I can. You father had sent an owl telling me about you and asked if I can be responsible for bringing you to a safer place, and I will. I see you made it to Professor Severus' house safely, and you must have met Professor Lupin by now. It's peculiar how fate works, isn't it? I look forward to seeing you today, and remember, you are safe now.

Albus Dumbledore.

She blinked a few tears away. Tears that came for many reasons, but the main one was that she felt safe and that was all that mattered. "Are you alright, Melissa?" Helen asked as she sipped some orange juice.

Melissa looked up and nodded her head, "The letter is from Albus Dumbledore, he wrote that he knows what happened, and that I shouldn't worry because I'm...safe." she cleared her throat and drank a generous gulp of orange juice.

"Well, that's good that Albus knows what happened." Lupin finished up his eggs, picked up his plate, and walked to the kitchen. Everyone else finished up their plates and followed suite. After breakfast was cleaned up, Melissa walked into the living room, not expecting to see Prof. Snape in there at the same time. She took a seat on the couch and held her head in her hands, thinking about what could have happened to her parents.

Severus was sitting in one of the chairs, and he didn't say anything when Melissa came in, because he too was thinking about something, how the hell Voldemort could possibly be back again. He then looked up and was surprised to see Melissa sitting on the couch. He thought he heard a sniffle, and then definitely heard a sob. He couldn't find the words to say right away, but he started speaking before he could stop himself, "I'm sorry that you had to go through this." His voice startled her from her thoughts.

She bit her lower lip and looked up at him. "Thank you, sir," was all she could think to say. As she was going to say something else, Prof. Lupin had strolled in saying "Shall we leave now?" in the direction of Prof. Snape.

Rolling his eyes, Severus stood up and glanced briefly at Melissa, who was wiping her eyes and clearing her throat. "_Damn you, Voldemort_." He thought angrily. He reached for a bowl on the mantle and handed it to Lupin. "Floo travel. Always fun." Lupin simply said, "Melissa?"

Melissa looked up and smiled weakly, "Yes?"

"We are going to Floo to Hogsmaede, then travel via carriage up to Hogwarts, where we will meet up with Headmaster Dumbledore. Alright?"

"Alright."

"You can go first then, just say Three Broomsticks Pub."

"Right."

"Here you go, then." He handed her the bowl, full of Floo powder. She took a handful and stepped in the fireplace, which was very tall and wide. Throwing the powder on the floor, the emerald green flames engulfed her, and she said loudly, but clearly, "Three Broomsticks Pub," and was gone.

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_This chapter would not be possible without the constant support from my family and friends (mostly sister and friend). It has been awhile since I have updated, and even longer since I had first published this story. Thank you to my reviewers and bear with me for future chapters to come. Read on, my merry friends. Your reviews are greatly appreciated._


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